Do I need Amazon Prime to take advantage of Prime Day 2019?

So you want to shop Amazon's biggest sale of the year? As the name suggests, you must be an Amazon Prime member to have access to Prime Day 2019. For those not familiar, Amazon Prime is the company's paid membership service that unlocks a whole bunch of benefits for those who use it, including one-day shipping on millions of items. While it normally runs $119 a year, which is $20 more than it was in year's past, there are a few ways to try it out without committing.

If you're not trying to pay a single cent and you just want the option to shop if you'd like, then the first thing you'll want to do is follow Thrifter on Twitter. Once we tweet an update about when Prime Day 2019 begins, you can sign up for a free 30-day Amazon Prime membership. This will score you all the benefits of a full Prime membership for the duration of the trial, including early access to lightning deals, faster shipping speeds, free returns, and so much more.

You can opt for a monthly Amazon Prime membership that'll cost $12.99 per month. If you have EBT or Medicaid, that price drops a bit as well. The good thing about these is that you can easily cancel if you don't find the full value in the service, or skip months when you know you won't be around to shop enough to make it worth it. It's also a great way to avoid dropping $119 as a single payment, though it does end up working out to be a bit more expensive annually.

If you don't want to miss out on Amazon Prime Day, you absolutely need a membership, so make sure to get yourself a free 30-day trial (or some other form of membership) if you're interested. If you happen to have an old account that you're going to activate again for the big shopping event, you'll want to consider doing an audit of your information so you don't miss any deals during the event. Be sure to add a new payment method, delete any old shipping addresses that may not be relevant any more, and maybe even get yourself a new credit card to help maximize your savings during the event.

Keep in mind there will be additional sales to shop that won't require an Amazon Prime membership. Walmart, eBay, BuyDig, Kohl's, Best Buy, and more have all held competing sales during Prime Day in the past. Without a Prime membership, you won't be able to score some of the best Lightning Deals of the year, but thanks to these competitor sales, you'll be able to participate at least a little bit. We expect that Amazon will make Prime Day 2019 a bigger event than any year before, so you're definitely going to want to be able to take advantage of all the savings that you can.

Keep checking Thrifter for timely updates regarding everything Prime Day 2019, and follow us on Twitter and get ready for some savings.

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